Newsmaker A nickel for your bag fee?

Toronto’s ﬁve-cent fee on plastic bags has been a periodic talking point for Rob Ford since early in his mayoralty (he is, naturally, against it), but this week he made his ﬁrst substantial move toward cancelling the whole program. His executive committee voted in favour of declaring the fee “a success” and then ending it effective July 1, subject to city council’s approval at its meeting next month. Where have all those nickels been disappearing to, anyway?

Why The City Can’t Collect the Nickels
The City of Toronto Act gives city council some power to levy taxes, but a sales tax on plastic bags? They can’t do that. To get around this restriction, the City requires retailers to keep the bag-fee nickels. That way, the fee is a fee, and not a tax.

Where The City Would Like the Nickels to Go
At its next meeting, along with the proposal to cancel the fee, city council will consider asking retailers to donate some of their bag nickels to the City’s efforts to protect Toronto’s tree canopy against the Emerald Ash Borer, a type of tree-destroying invasive pest.

Where Some Major Retail Chains Spend Their Bag-Fee Nickels
Loblaw The company, like most major retailers, doesn’t disclose how much it makes from the fee. But, according to spokesperson Julija Hunter, $4-million of its plastic-bag proceeds have gone to the World Wildlife Fund since 2009. Loblaw enforces the fee in stores outside of Toronto.

Canadian Tire The owner of each individual store has discretion over where the bag money goes. Ted Mangnall, who owns the Canadian Tire on the Queensway, says he usually donates the entirety of his annual bag-fee haul (about $5,000) to local schools. This year, he’s giving the money to the effort to repair the Jamie Bell Adventure Playground in High Park, which was damaged two months ago by a fire that police believe was set deliberately.

Metro The entire chain enforces the bag fee — not just stores in Toronto. Cheryl Kelly, a spokesperson, says since 2009 Metro has put more than $5-million of its bag money, into the Green Apple School Program. Green Apple provides small grants for conservation-minded school projects.

Shoppers Drug Mart “A portion of the proceeds is given back to the Shoppers Drug Mart Weekend to End Women’s Cancers,” says Tammy Smitham, a spokesperson for Shoppers. The rest, she says, is spent on various internal energy-management programs, such as lighting retrofits for stores. Shoppers enforces the fee in all of its stores west of Quebec.